MSLR Robotics has grown exponentially from their humble beginnings three years ago, and is seeking donations in order to help alleviate some of the anticipated costs related to their travels to Dallas, Texas this May, where they will be competing against teams from all over the world at the Vex Robotics World Competition.

MSLR Robotics was started out of the kindness of a father's heart as a means to solve the issues that his daughters faced being involved with their overcrowded elementary school Robotics team. With only one coach in charge of an entire classroom of students, inadequate supplies, and school time constraints, they were unable to reach their full potential in an extracurricular activity they were passionate about. Armed with an extensive background in software design, and with his two oldest daughters by his side, Ricardo created MSLR Robotics:

M (Miranda - first daughter's name)
S (Scarlett - second daughter's name)
L (Liah - third daughter's name)
R (Rickson - son's name)
The team name being a tribute to what it is all about, our children!

Robotics is a rapidly growing, exciting and ever-changing extracurricular activity. Team members work together to design, build, program and drive their robots in competition. By attending local meets, teams can qualify for the State meet. At the State meet, teams can qualify for the World meet. Going to Worlds is the highest honor in Robotics competitions.

Back in 2019, MSLR Robotics started as a single elementary team that consisted of Ricardo's two oldest daughters, Miranda and Scarlett, and Ricardo as the coach. Together, they worked to shatter records and quickly became one of the top Robotics teams in the state of Indiana! They attended local meets, qualified to the state meet and then even qualified to World's. With the addition of two more dedicated teammates on the elementary team, year two was just as successful. Fast forward to today, MSLR's popularity has grown and they now have two teams. An elementary team and a middle school team. The teams are now comprised of eight members, two assistant coaches and a head coach. The team members and their families are very dedicated and come from a wide range of backgrounds. MSLR's team members reside in multiple cities throughout Northwest Indiana and come together twice a week to practice throughout the year.

This season, MSLR Elementary Robotics is ranked #1 in the state of Indiana and #9 in the U.S. MSLR Middle School Robotics, a first year team, is ranked in the top 20 in the state of Indiana and continues to climb the national rankings!

Ricardo's mission of passing on his knowledge and love of Robotics to his children and, now, his students remains the same even with the growth of the team. However, the amount of money it costs to sustain a program of this caliber has changed. With the pandemic, the first two years of post season competition was online and the costs were relatively low. With post returning to in-person, the team travel costs and entrance fees have skyrocketed and many of MSLR's team members do not have the means to be able to attend the competitions that they have worked so hard to qualify for.

If you are interested in helping make post season competition affordable for the MSLR Robotics teams, please visit our website at mslrrobotics.org and hit the donate button. We also have a PayPal account - This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.. Any amount is greatly appreciated! Thank you!!!